Weasel1966

Triggers.... It could be automatically assumed there is a bullet on the other end. Not always so.

A trigger is just that. A starting point for some other action. That I, as an alcoholic, have been trained to see in myself. In rehab we did exercises to identify the triggers and learn to resolve them peacefully.

I never considered a trigger as much more. But recently...the stopping of my drinking... I asked myself what gave me the strength now to be able to say no when I could not in the past.

A trigger.

The fact I can still hear my nose crackle when I blow it from being broken in a few places is a trigger for me to stay sober. A stop sign.

Things have flipped on their head. In, surprisingly, a really good way.

With out my stop triggers... Well... I don't need to consider where I would be right now. Because I am not there.

I don't have to look for what happens next by what I didn't do. How much I didn't drink or drug. That's not a good way to view this awakening.

I love being sober.... It's a sense of relief packed into small little bursts of energy when during my day I remember... Oh yeah! I don't drink!

Anyway... Triggers can be good things. I want to learn all of my triggers that bring a different result in my life. My cooking trigger. My writing trigger. My working out trigger. My sober friends trigger. I am lining them up for my enjoyment.

mecanix

6 pm used to be a trigger for me to drink , when i gave up i was agitated at that time for a few weeks . With time things change , 6 pm is no kind of trigger for me now .

Distraction is quite a good coping mechanism it's why i bought myself an x-box and several games once the physical witdrawl synptoms eased . After a year or so on there are no triggers as such ... just a fight against complacency wondering if i really was that bad .

Bestwishes, M

escapist

Triggers. I hate admitting I have them sometimes. They make me feel like a rat in a Skinner experiment. My tiny trained brain responding to stimuli. I do have them though. I can outsmart them. Honesty with myself helps. So does humble appreciation of their power. Right now I am recognizing that my life is full of ulterior motives. Part of it comes from the shame about myself I learned a child. I just can't say what I want. I have to manipulate my desire so it looks innocent or well meaning. I don't know if I am making sense or not which is why I am struggling, I suppose.

Weasel1966

Escapist... That's very insightful! I have a hard time asking for what I need. I act out until someone notices. Few people are close enough in my life to know so I have had to learn to be direct.

I overcame my trigger yesterday so I was on the topic in my head. Lol

Fandy

stress and insomnia were my big triggers...my witching hour was 3AM, drinking is just "not an option" these days

escapist

Ulterior motives are one of my triggers

Maples

6 or 7pm, AND nobody will see me until the morning which is plenty of time to recover from hiding my issues in a pint of vodka.

NOT TRUE. I told myself that so many times.

escapist

For the first 2 months after quitting everytime I went to my downstairs bathroom I would think about drinking. Sneak a drink. Every now and then I still do. For awhile I felt pretty hopeless about it. How do you not go to the bathroom?

Lost3000

Well, see, you cross your legs, and...

LOL. It's like me and the grocery store. There was one in particular with a bathroom right up front (handy for me - Ms. Pee-A-Lot!) and a liquor store right next to it. In the little over one year I've been sober, I think I've been to this store twice. Maybe. Old habits, and I just don't feel comfortable going there. The liquor store owner knew me by face and drink, and the last thing I want is him seeing me around there - "hey! Haven't seen you in awhile. We have a great pecial on vodka!"

Maples

For me it was the "see you soon!" from the Asian woman who works the counter. She was just being nice, but deep inside i hated that she was right. Made me drive even faster to get home and open that bottle.

I hope I never see her again.